As a minister, I routinely perform marriage ceremonies. The couple pay for the license at the city hall. I sign it and mail it back to be filed. In between the two actions, I perform a wedding ceremony. I write the ceremony and being a disciple of Jesus Christ, all of my ceremonies are based on a foundation of vows that include a commitment one to the other and a promise of fidelity.

However, it is the piece of paper that makes the marriage a marriage in the eyes of the law. It has nothing to do with what one partner promises the other. It is basically a legal contract that the government collects revenue for and that provides the two parties with tax advantages, medical benefits and protection in the case of a crisis.

As much as I would like it to be about what is promised in the ceremony, it isn't. It is simply a legal document. And everything that this legal document provides for a straight couple, should be provided for a gay couple or a transgender couple. To me that is a given. It is logical. It should be understood that any citizen in the United States should have the same rights as every other citizen, no matter what their sexual orientation is.

What happens intimately between two adults is private and shouldn't be the business of any government agency. It has nothing to do with the legal provisions in a marriage license. Nothing.

A marriage license must be available to everyone, not just a portion of the population in this country!

I have performed wedding ceremonies and I have performed commitment ceremonies. And these ceremonies are all about love and fidelity and promising to take care of each other. But whether a ceremony has that included in it or not, really doesn't matter as far as what a marriage license provides.

A license doesn't guarantee monogomy or "happily ever". It doesn't require fidelity or that you treat your in-laws well. It guarantees legal umbrellas to the two parties who have entered into the legal agreement.

A license is a license and should be available to anyone and everyone who is an adult and a citizen of the United States. Anything less than that is a travesty of everyone's constitutional rights.

We have to find and demand health care solutions for everyone, but especially for our children. No child in this country should ever go to bed hungry or die because their parents have no health insurance or money to pay doctor and hospital bills. With all the reports of children dying from the swine flu, I have to wonder if any of these tragedies were due to the parents hesitating to seek medical care simply because they could not afford the price of a doctor's visit or a prescription. A parent should never have to decide between a child's health or paying the rent or the utility bill. The hope of our own future lies in today's children and all the bright and wonderful ideas and gifts that they will bring to our planet. Every life that comes to our world deserves to be nourished and cared for 100% and our elected officials had better wake up and realize that. Otherwise our tomorrow looks pretty bleak.

What constitutes a family? Who decides what a family truly is? This should not be decided by the government. This should be decided by the declaration two individuals, regardless of sex, make by their commitment to each other and the family they build from that commitment. Who has the right to say that two women who have pledged their fidelity to each other cannot be married under the law? What right does a government have to say that two men who have made that same commitment are not to be legally married? When two people, be them straight or gay, stand before God and promise to honor each other, stay faithful to each other and support each other until death do them part, then that contract should be binding in the eyes of not only God but also the law. When a committed couple of any sexual orientation establishes themselves as a family, be it just the two of them or the two of them and their children, then that should constitute a legally binding contract. The contract should provide that family with tax deductions, protection under the law and insurance coverage.

There are too many gay partners and their families in this country being penalized and being denied the rights that go along with being married. God created the concept of family. And the bible has been revised many many times by many many people. I do not believe that God's intention was that only partners of the opposite sexes can be a family. God's intention was that we love one another. And He didn't say opposite sex partners are the only ones allowed to do that.

I know several gay partner families who have establsihed homes for their children, a good reputation in their professions, who are the first to volunteer at their children's schools and other activities, who pay property taxes, income taxes and sales taxes. Why should they not enjoy the same benefits as family health care, joint income tax, and the same privledges as a "straight" couples have. These families I know are raising bright, healthy children who will one day be great contrubutors to society. This is because not only were they brought up in homes where respect, responsibility and self esteem are taught but also where diversity and unconditional love are part of that home.

It saddens me that when those of us who are Light Workers are striving to bring peace, unity and acceptance for all into the ethers of the planet, the government continues to draw lines,discrimnate and cause friction among the people who they claim to be "protecting". What utter nonsense.

I would hope and pray that these bureaucrats do not succeed in pitting one sexual preference against another. We will never realize the peace and unity we are all working for if that kind of dissention happens. All of God's people need to love and support each other. And we need to fight for each other's rights. When one battle is won, the war is won for all humanity.

Let us love one another unconditionally and stand together as a whole, not as special interest groups. When we stand together we will be mighty enough to make same sex marriage legal in every state. And let us also celebrate the states that have succeeded to make this happen. When we find joy in the small successes, we send out the positive energy that attracts more success.

Lastly may I say that prayer is the mightiest sword we can yield. There are so many of us that believe that there are no lines that separate us,least of all sexual preference. If all of us who believe this and hold that intention in their heart begin to pray, we can move the mountain of discrimination and unfairness. We can manifest the world we only see in our dreams and we can do it in our own generation!

Namaste'

Rev. Ricki Horst